Elton's guide to shopping in London

He's a self-confessed shopaholic - a man who thinks nothing of spending hundreds on flowers and buying CDs by the trolley-load. So who better to have around at this time of year than Sir Elton John?

For the benefit of all those who view the onset of the Christmas shopping season with panic, Sir Elton has compiled his own guide to seasonal gift-buying.

Invited to guest-edit listings magazine Time Out, Sir Elton unleashed his shopping gene. Not only did he personally compile a double-page spread on his favourite shops and a list of dos and don'ts but he commissioned page after page of gift ideas for the whole family.

Elton rifles through his little black book of shopping secrets and pulls out a sackful of sexy knickers, vintage sunglasses, napkin rings and scented candles.

The pop music star is the latest in a string of big names offering their personal guides to London.

Kirsten Dunst listed her favourite addresses after spending weeks in the capital filming Wimbledon, and Kevin Spacey wrote about the best places for a fry-up or a market bargain. Sir Elton opens with a letter to readers in which he praises London above all the great cities he has visited and lived in.

'London is not a bulls**t city,' he declares, in the robust language to which we've recently become accustomed.

'It's the place where I feel most comfortable. It's where my friends live. I call it home. I enjoy the banter with taxi drivers and the irreverence and stoicism of the people on the streets. You don't get that anywhere else.' It is the irreverence, says Sir Elton, which keeps him sane.

'I love to go out. I enjoy a lavish lifestyle but I like to know what's going on. That's why I love England: Private Eye, Little Britain, all that. Nothing is sacred and nothing in this world should be sacred.'

He is not without his gripes: trams should replace buses and the city is in need of a world class photography museum.

Unlike many Londoners, Sir Elton does support the congestion charge and believes it has helped reduce the traffic jams.

But beware, his shopping list isn't for the miserly. As he says: 'I can't really recommend any cheap shops as my taste is rather grand.'